Welcome

Thoughts on fitness, health, good nutrition ... and running.

Welcome to Bald Man Running, a blog launched by Frank Murphy on January 1, 2015.

In March, 2013 I was selected as a contestant for the sixth season of Fort Wayne's Smallest Winner. Through this amazing program, I learned about good nutrition, sound exercise and accountability. By October, I would lose over 88 pounds (almost 37% of my original weight)! One of the many things I acquired through FWSW was a love for running. You can retrace my weight loss journey and discover how I became a runner by reading those entries labeled "fwsw" ...

Note: Many of the blog entries on this website predate 1/1/2015. Prior to launching BMR, I had written articles for various projects, and I have imported many of them into this blog (labeled "retro").

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Post-marathon thoughts

I know there has already been a ton of comments and photos about my marathon (thank you, Facebook). I haven't really had a chance to sit down and compose my thoughts until now. So, bear with me as I try to summarize the experience.

First, everybody I know is awesome. I've received so much support, encouragement, advice and love from so many. I can't imagine anyone being surrounded by a better group of folks. I am fortunate beyond description! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I didn't do as well as I hoped. Through the first 20 miles, I was right on pace. I know I messed up somewhere (most likely by not picking up on signals my body was telling me). By the time I realized that, I had to adjust my expectations. Between the heat and the worst muscle spasms I've ever had, I just wanted to finish. I am confident that I can dissect my experience, learn from it and come back stronger.

Overall, the marathon wasn't as enjoyable to me as the training. Don't get me wrong ... the marathon was well-organized and I have zero complaints about it. I guess I'm just disappointed with my finish and that taints the experience a little. I did finish and I'm very satisfied with that.

I can say that my training plan worked perfectly. I stuck to it and was as well equipped as I possibly could have been. I have no regrets and absolutely no wish to have changed anything I did.

I know there are a lot of horror stories from marathon runners about how grueling the experience is. Yesterday, right after the race I believed most of them. Today, I feel fine.

I'm not exaggerating. I was in great shape to make the attempt yesterday, and my body has responded really well. Being prepared and educated is paying dividends right now.

I feel like I went toe-to-toe with a worthy adversary, took some brutal shots, but remained on my feet and won in the end.

To be clear, I'm not discouraged at all ... I'm simply saying that I know I could have done better. I'm going to learn from this and improve.

Whatever it was that happened on the course was a setback, but I still tasted success (and let me tell you, it's quite salty). I don't know when I'll try another marathon, but I do know I'm already far better equipped for it.